Out of all the ideas that some of my buddies throw my way, few ever reach the stage where we actually end up going through with it.  However, this one apparently did.  As the title states, a buddy of mine wanted to go camping and stargazing.  I think he might have done it once or twice, but this is definitely a first time for me.

The basic plan was go camping for a couple of days out at the Sky Meadows State Park in Virginia.  As advertised on the brochure, it's an ideal camping place for people who also want to stargaze.

I have a tendency of being over-prepared for anything and everything, so uh, that's exactly what I did.  In fact, I was bringing so much crap that I ended up needing to bring a wagon as well!  Packed up, it sort of looks like this:

A quick word about what you are seeing: We had attempted to go camping as far back as 8 years ago, but the last time we tried, there was a hurricane-like storm moving in, so we had to ditch the idea.  In other words, I didn't buy a lot of new gear, but merely dusted off the old ones.  I still had to purchase a bunch of stuff, such as new freeze-dried meal bags, for example.  I shudder to even think about this month's budget update.

On my way to this trip, I also stopped at my favorite gas station ever: Buccee's!

The gas at Buccee's is reasonable relative today's overall gas prices, at $3.60 per gallon.  Most importantly, they have absolutely the BEST public bathrooms I have ever seen.  I am not a fan of using public bathrooms anywhere, but if I had to, I definitely prefer Buccee's.  It's a shame that they have very few locations in this area.  I even had to detour out of my way just to stop by here.

Upon arriving and meeting up with my buddy and fellow camping idiot, we were about to find out what a grueling hike just even getting from the entrance to our camp site was going to be.  I was told that it was merely "a mile or two", but I assure you, it most definitely did NOT feel like just that.  Most of the path was hilly terrain with a somewhat steep incline.  Enough for me to even slip and fall one time.  On top of that, we were both dragging wagons of gear on what is mostly dirt and gravel path up and down said hilly inclines.  I was absolutely wiped from getting there, and we still had to set up camp before it got dark.

On top of that, we were warned in advance that these woods also contained bears, coyotes, venomous snakes, mosquitoes and ticks.  However, being a managed state park with Park Rangers on patrol, the threat level is minmal.  Indeed, besides mosquitoes, horse flies, and even spotting one snake, we really didn't run into any probems.  Here is the only picture I have of said snake.  It nearly slithered away before I can take the picture.

What really sunk in was just how DARK it was when night fell.  Naturally, if you are trying to stargaze, it makes sense to be somewhere far enough from the typical light pollution of civilization.  In fact, the closest bustling town was nearly 30 minutes drive away.  Still, it was so dark, it was hard to tell the difference between a deer and other park campers, when all you can make out are dark silhouettes.  One time, I even literally ran into a park sign!  Here is a picture that sort of try to show what it was like, but my phone made the picture much brighter than it actually was out there:

Unfortunately, the nights were somewhat cloudy, and with a full moon, we weren't able to see too many stars.  However, we did get to see a lot of wild animals during the day, such as deer, cows (in fenced in farm pastures), foxes, squirrels, and rabbits.  Of them all, this was about the only good picture I was able to get:

Living up to our names of Two Idiots Camping, we had tried to start up a camp fire, but the wood logs simply refused to catch fire and keep burning, and that's even after asking a passing park ranger how to build one.  In our defense, it was raining the night before we arrived, so the logs might have been too wet to burn.  Anyway, here is a picture of our poor attempt at a campfire:

Uh, what else?  Well, our sleeping bags kept us warm enough in the 50F (10C) nights, but sleeping on the ground, and on inflated sleeping pads are not really the most comfortable thing in the world.  In fact, mine half deflated through my stay, and it was hard to keep it inflated.

I think the worst part, and the part that is going to turn me off from camping in the future, is the fact that I was not able to shower or brush my teeth during the entire two day stay.  Such activities are possible, but it's simply not practical.  We made do with toothpicks and wet wipes.  In fact, the moment I got home, the first thing I did was shower and brush my teeth.  It was such a relief just to finally do that. 

And even though the park had public bathrooms, and was about as clean as you can realistically expect, it still stank and had flies flying everywhere.  Flashlights were absolutely vital at night just to get to the bathroom and back without running into or tripping on anything.  Also, these bathrooms did not have lights inside.  You had to bring your own flashlight and make sure you don't accidentally drop it down the big dark hole that is your toilet.

Overall, I had fun hanging out and catching up with a buddy of mine, while finally checking this off my bucket list.  He was already pitching a camping/fishing idea for next year, but I just really don't know.  Assuming it even goes through at all like this one, I am not sure that I really care to live this up close to the Great Outdoors.  For now though, I'm going to rest my poor, achey body from dragging a weighed-down wagon through a gravel trail, up hill, both ways.

Finally, here's a picture of the Cracker Barrel we went to for breakfast, before heading back out:

My last trip to the grocery store was met with not only a paltry selection of available beef, but it was also some of the worst quality I've ever seen and eaten.  To be clear, I don't eat beef all that often.  However, I just really get that craving from time to time.

On a brighter note, the price of eggs have really gone down in price, and I couldn't be happier.

Gas remains high though, just finally coming down from triple digits.  It's a good thing I drive a fuel efficient car, and these days, hardly go anywhere to begin with.

On another note, my kids are really having trouble finding meaningful work.  It's not so much that work can not be found, but they usually involved criminally low pay and poor management.  So, they're still searching for their employment forever home.

edit: Instead of a separate entry about it, I'll just tack it here.  Just got back from the doctor's office, and finally found out that they will not accept my insurance after all.  Last appointment, they were still "pending".  Last year, they accepted it fine.  However, not this year.  I think this is from the insurance company, not the doctor's office, as I could not find ANY endocrinology specialist within the insurance plan.  Why did it change?  That's so crazy.  I'm not sure what to do right now about this.  I just hope that my medication can somehow last long enough until then.  Ugh.

To end on a more cheery note, look at the... hydrangea (I think) growing in my yard!  They look especially amazing after a rain shower.

As I blogged earlier, someone had tampered with my front door.  To recap, while it is extremely unlikely, I guess it's not impossible for me to forget about my deadbolt.  However, the fact that my lock opening had been taped over is most definitely not from me!  Also, it doesn't help that my house have been burglarized once in the past.  As someone who has been threatened to be killed multiple times before, and is generally hypervigilant to begin with, I can not stress enough what a big deal this is for me.  At the very least, it's just embarrassing to me on a professional level.

Now for some generally inconvenient truth about physical security in an average house: It's never going to be secure enough to stop a determined burglar or home invader.  Even if it's somehow possible, you might not actually want that, as in the event of a medical emergency or fire, you don't want your domicile to be so barricaded that EMTs or fire fighters can't break though and get to you in time.  So, it's an interesting balancing act.

Also, I don't want to end up being that weird guy in the movies where, every time I open or close a door, you hear like at least 4 or 5 different locking mechanisms being activated.  The added security still need to be convenient enough to work with in daily life.  With all that said, let's get to what I added as new:

I don't know if you guys have seen this mechanism before, but the basic idea is, even if your door lock has been picked or tampered with, the door itself still can not be opened, as these barricade devices will have to be disengaged from the inside.

Now, the reason why I don't mind showing this in public is because, well, they've been proven to be defeated before, and with a slab of plastic cut out of a milk jug no less haha.  Also, there are a couple more details to this, that I am choosing not to show for security reasons.  So, this is not all there is to it.

Another reason I decided to go with these is because they don't actually look that bad aesthetically, and in terms of using them day-in and day-out, it's pretty frictionless to me.  Oh, and it's pretty affordable for what it is!

Regardless, it's been nearly... 3 weeks since the day of the incident?  I have to say I am a bit disappointed that this prospective burglar / home invader had not shown up.  I had really hoped to bag whoever this is.  The MO on this one seems somewhat idiotic, and I have questions on why he chose to do exactly what he did hahaha.  Oh well.

I can't believe I forgot to add this to my previous post, but just recently, David Attenborough celebrated his 100 birthday!  Cheers to his lifetime contribution towards learning and conservation!  Here's a quick link, though you can easily search videos about him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o-9h_hGpn8

Apparently, he's still keeping active and making nature documentaries.  In particular, I am currently watching this one called "Life that Glows":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqZDHb_eQlY

Uh I don't want to make it sound like all I ever talk about are guns... even though I do handle them nearly every day, but I promise I have a quick point to make here.  Similar to what could have been any endeavor for anyone else in life, this has been a decades-long journey of discovery and learning for me.  And now, as of last night, I believe that journey has officially come to an end.  It's just a strange, bittersweet feeling, when you've spent 30+ years of your life working on something, and now you are stopping it.  You know what I mean?

Now that I've been able to sell most of my accursed P320 pistols, I was finally able to install what is intended to be my retired, forever-home holster for my retired, forever-home Glock pistol last night.  As I was doing so, I was also watching bird videos.  When I am working on something, or eating dinner, I typically run some YouTube video or show in the background.  For this particular night, YouTube has somehow decided that I would be very interested in cuckoo birds.  Before, I almost never watch bird videos, but YouTube turned out to be right about me!  I was totally engrossed by these bird videos.

For example, cuckoo birds really burn my bacon for no good reason.  The mothers would lay their eggs in other bird nests, expecting these other birds to raise their young for them.  When they hatch, their first instinct is to push out the original bird eggs and fellow hatchlings, so that the parent birds will direct all of their food and energy into taking care of them.  And when they grow up, they have also been known to eat the hatchlings of other birds, including the same species as the ones they used to push out of the nest when they were young!

So here I am, late into the night, just getting too emotionally invested against these cuckoo birds.  I mean, it's not like cuckoo birds are like humans, who can consciously choose to do evil.  I know that's just their instinct driving them towards survival, so I really shouldn't be all that upset about it.

Still though, I've been binge watching bird videos since.  YouTube just keeps suggesting them!  From chickadees to wood ducks, the babies are just so cute!  Hmm, I don't know where any of this is going, but I do wonder if having bird houses and feeders are a good way to control mosquitos in my backyard?

This isn't finance-related, but maybe you guys might find it interesting nonetheless.

I was out today, roughly between 1200 to 1500 (3pm), and when I got back, I noticed that my front door's deadbolt was unlocked.  It's highly unusual because I basically never forget to lock the front door.  Upon inspection, I also saw this black tape obstructing the front door's latch hole.

While it is theoretically possible that I could have forgotten to lock the deadbolt, I 100% definitely did NOT block my door lock with black tape.  I have never done that to any of my doors before. Ever.

There are only two times I have seen this trick of blocking the door lock mechanisms.  The first is when electricians want to get in and out of a typically locked room (to electricals at a commercial building) that they are currently working on.  The other is when a burglar or home invader wants to break into a house later, without any fuss or make any sounds doing so.

Assuming the latter, I immediately went and replaced my front door locks while there was still daylight.  Now, this isn't going to actually stop a burglar who can pick locks (which honestly isn't that hard to begin with).  I can only assume that's how the deadbolt was unlocked in the first place, as there were no signs of distress on the door frame.  Still though, replacing the deadbolt was long overdue anyway, and I got to pick the color that I wanted instead of this ugly two tone from two different brands that the previous owner installed.

Unfortunately, I have been burglarized before.  Perhaps that's just how it goes when you are living alone, and with no dogs for protection.  The first time, I was still working full time to overtime, so I was hardly at home to begin with, and a mostly empty house is just asking for it.

Even though I am now at home most of the time, I don't suppose I make it all that obvious that the house is occupied?  For one person, there is just no reason to have the lights on for most of the house, you know?  Like why waste electricity like that?  From the outside, it probably still looks largely unoccupied?  Even though there is usually some light and music coming from my room these days.

Anyway, burglaries around here typically happen in the middle of the night, say around 0300 to 0400.  I'm already geared up and ready to go, JUST IN CASE something goes sideways.  Don't worry though, I'm not looking to get into a fight or anything.  The plan is just to call the police and have them handle it.

I don't know if it's worth blogging about this, but this is just a part of what's going on in my life.

To make this as succinct as possible, I have quite a few Sig P320 pistols.  There are a lot of reasons why I had a bunch of them, but without boring anyone to tears here, the bottom line is when you are an instructor and supposed subject-matter expert, you can't just not know things.  You know what I mean?  Imagine if you are a financial professional, and a client walks in and asks you seemingly simple financial questions, you don't want your answer to be "I don't know", right?  Well, unfortunately, the only way to gain firearms expertise is to have and shoot a bunch of guns... well, to a certain extent.

But that's the past.  Since I'm retired now, I do not need a whole bunch of guns.  Not that I have a whole bunch to begin with, compared to my co-workers, who has literal stockpiles.  I'm talking multiple guns hidden in every room of the house.  Even they would laugh and admit to you they have way too many guns.  But I digress.

Circling back to why I mentioned the Sig P320 pistols: In case anyone didn't already know, they are having a historic fallout due to a series of high profile failures, from not being drop-safe, to accidentally going off when it is not suppose to, even when it is holstered.  Allegedly.  It's a huge rackus, both online and in real life right now.  So much so that most gun stores here don't even buy or sell them anymore.

The trouble with guns is that you can't sell it to just anyone.  Me personally, I only sell to legit gun stores, or proven law enforcement and military folks that I also have to like.  Despite my selective criteria, I haven't had much trouble selling off any of my other firearms, except for the P320s.  I have had to hang on to them for way too long, because nobody wanted these things...  until recently.  I finally found a buyer who is willing to take a couple of them off my hands.  Don't worry, this guy has cleared federal and state background checks, and was a co-worker of mine, so I know him "well enough".  I still had to sell at a steep discount though, but it's still better than hanging on to what is currently dead weight collecting dust.

Yes, I am a weird gun nut, but I'm also a weird fruggie, and while these two worlds most certainly do collide sometimes, I think it's time for the fruggie side to prevail now that I am suppose to be retired and all.

If you managed to make it this far, how about I balance this out with some flower pictures I've taken recently?

See how the petals on the left are darker than the ones on the right?  Wild, right?  I wonder what kind of flower this is, and how that happened?

Here's a couple more of a different kind of flower that I took as I was driving by someone's house.  I hope they didn't see me and think I'm some weirdo in their front yard haha.